Empire Community Park
Park
6 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
COutdoors
Outdoors in Empire
Empire has 8 acres of parks, 2.4 for every 1,000 residents
0.4 miles of mapped trail cross Empire, 0.3 per square mile of land. 65% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 30% of U.S. towns · #689 of 847 in California. What drives it
Conserved land
1%
6 acres · of 1.2 sq mi of land
Trails
0.4 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
8 ac
2.4 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
65%
of residents within ½ mile
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Empire have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Empire is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #689 of 847 in California. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
C
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Empire’s overall grade.
Conserved land1% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%CTrails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land2.4 acres of park per 1,000 residents (8 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home65% of residents within a half mile of a park · CA 91% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 30%
LessMore
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 19%
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Empire. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Empire Community Park, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
6 conserved acres
1% of Empire’s land. Who manages Empire’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County6 ac
Local Park · 6 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empire Community Park Local Park | County | 6 | Open |
Things to do
5 places to go in Empire
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Empire
Empire PoolIn Empire Community Park
DirectionsPlus 1 public pool without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Empire
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
4Baseball
2Softball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Empire: April and May
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.8 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.1 | 14.2 | 14.7 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.1 | 9.6 |
| High (°F) | 56 | 62 | 68 | 74 | 82 | 90 | 95 | 93 | 89 | 79 | 66 | 56 |
| Rain (in) | 2.7 | 2.4 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 2.4 |
July is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and the warmest (highs of 95 °F). 2.7 inches fall in January, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 95 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Empire →
Next door
Empire and its neighbors
Empire has the second most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Empire | 1% | 0.3 | 2 | 65% | C |
| Modesto | 6% | 0.7 | 6 | 97% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Empire
Where can I hike in Empire?
The longest trail networks: Empire Community Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Empire is conserved land?
1% of its land, against a typical 4% for a California town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Empire’s trails?
Empire Community Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Empire?
2,083 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Empire or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 8 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Empire have?
Ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #689 of 847 in California. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Empire neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →